Fabulous Sugar Cookies & Buttercream Frosting

Taken from another recipe blogger: http://hyperhomemaker.blogspot.com/

In case you saw the post on my other blog where I wrote about Valentine's Cookies this is the recipe you're looking for. I have tried multiple sugar cookie recipes and have had trouble finding the perfect one where the cookie turns out both tasty and soft. Mine were either one or the other. This recipe seems to work well. I would recommend keeping the dough rolled out fairly thick (almost 1/4 inch) for maximum softness. The thinner they are the crispier they are. Also I did have two of the ingredients on hand so I did without the lemon zest and the almond extract (knowing that these are not essential to the baking process.) To supplement the extra flavor of the almond extract I added a second teaspoon of vanilla.

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. butter

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. powdered sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 Tbsp lemon zest

5 c. flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Powdered sugar, for rolling (I used flour)

Directions

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes.

-Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.

-Add vanilla, almond, and lemon zest.

-Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time.

-Do not over mix, this process should take about one minute.

-Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away.

-Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (not necessary) and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes.

-Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.

The Hyperhomemaker found that this recipe made 30-32 big, thick cookies. The original recipe says 80, so I think it's just the size and thickness of the cookie.

As for decorating the cookies I found a Buttercream frosting recipe in the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Very fast, very easy. If it gets dry, just add a drop or two of milk and stir until you reach the desired consistency.

To pipe the cookies decoratively, you can spoon the frosting into a sturdy ziploc bag and snip off a tiny corner of the bag.

Buttercream frosting

Ingredients

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 to 2 Tablespoons of milk

1. In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar adn butter with spoon or electric mixer (definitely opt for the mixer) on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 Tbsp. of the milk.

2. Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick add more milk. If too thin beat in more powdered sugar.

note: I found I needed a second batch of this frosting to cover all the sugar cookies.